Samuel a



GATE.

.APPLIGATIQN FILEDA un. 27. 1905*.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

GATE.

i Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 1, 1905;.

Application filed April 27, 1905. Serial No. 257,713.

To a/ZZ whom it muy concern: f

Be it known that I, SAMUEL A. WHITSETT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Belfast, in the county of Marshall and State of Tennessee, have invented anew and useful Grate, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to swinging gates, and has for its object to provide novel mechanism for tilting the hinged end of the gate out of the perpendicular, so as to elevate and release the latch end of the gate to permit of the gate automatically swinging open and closed. In this connection it is proposed to provide for giving the gate a positive initial swinging movement to insure the prompt and effective swinging of the gate` from its open and closed positions.

With these objects in view the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details'may be made within the scope of the claims Without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of aswinging gate embodying the features of the presentinvention. Fig. 2 is a detail top plan view of the hinged end of the gate, showing the gate tilted in readiness to swing open. Fig. 3 is a perspective View showing the hinge members for the upper end of the gate. Fig. 4 is a similar view of the hinge members of the bottom of the gate. Eig. 5 is a view similar to Eig. 2 with the gate open.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in each and every ligure of the drawings.

The' frame 1 of the present gate may be of the ordinary barred form, as shown in the accompanying drawings, or any other preferred form may be employed without affecting the spirit of the present invention. For the support of the rear end of the gate there is any ordinary form of gatepost 2, there being an upstanding hinge-pintle 3, carried by the lower portion of the gate-post and engaged by a strap hinge member 4, having an eye 5 receiving the pintle. Below the top of the rear end of the gate there is a hinge member 6 in the nature of an upright strap suitably secured to one side of the rear end bar of the gate and provided at its' upper end with a laterally-directed ear 7, standing at substantially right angles to the gate and provided with one or more perforations 8. Upon the upper portion of the front face of the post there is a movable hinge member consisting of an upright rotatable bar 9, mounted upon the post in suitable bearings 10 in the nature of staples or eyes driven into the post. The lower end of this bar is provided with a substantially horizontal crank-arm 11, having a pendent pintle 12 at the outer free end thereof, and a substantially horizontal terminal crank-arm 13, extending forwardly from the pintle and in the same vertical plane with the crankarm 11. In the preferred embodiment of this invention the parts just described are preferably integral, as shown in Fig. 3, the upper end of the rod or shaft9 being provided with a non-circular terminal portion or head 14 for engagement by the terminal seat or eye 15 of an actuating crank-arm 16, which Works horizontally across the top of the post. The movable member of the upper hinge is engaged with the hinge member 6 prior to the mounting of the former upon the gate-post, the arm 13 being passed through one of. the openings 8 until the pintle 12 is received therein and lying adjacent and in substantial parallelism with the gate in front of the-pintle 12.

For controlling the arm 16 an upstanding lever 17 is located at each side of the gate and is fulcrumed intermediate of its ends upon a suitable post 18, there being a rod or the like 19 extending from one end of the lever to the rear end of the crank-arm 16, Where it is connected, as at 20, and another rod or the like 21 extending from the other end of the lever to the respective opposite end of the other lever, the latter lever not being shown in the drawings for lack oi' space.

Any appropriate means for latching the gate to the latch-post 22 may be employedw' such, for instance. asl upper and lower latches 23, pivoted at their rear ends, as at 24, upon the gate and designed to gravitate into suitable keepers 25, carried by the latch-postthere being a yoke-shaped or U-shaped guard 26 carried by the gate and loosely embracing each of the latches to take lateral strains thereon. A suitable connecting-rod 27 eX- tends between the latches, so as to insure simultaneous movement of the same, there being a latch-lifting handle 28 rising from the upper latch.

in l

With the gate in its closed position, thel crank-arm 11 is in su bstantialparallelism with the gate, and upon actuating either of the controlling-levers to swing the crank-arm 1l in the direction of the arrow on Fig. 2 the upper end` of the gate will be drawn rearwardly and tilted laterally out of the vertical, thereby elevating the free end of the gate suiiiciently to lift the latches out of the keepers, whereupon the gate will automaticallyswi-ng open byreason of gravitation, owingtothe laterally-tilted position of the rear or hinged end of the gate. The gate will-swing closed from its open position by reversing the-*movementof the crank-arm 11, so as to tilt the hinged lend of the gate in the opposite direction.

" `Under some conditions-es, for instance, when the hinges become rusty-,the gate might fail to promptly swing open, and therefore I provide the crank-arm 13 upon lthe lower end of the'upper pintle 12, the purpose of said crankarm being to swing into engagement and press against the gate, so as to compel the same to swing open after its rear end has-been tilted laterally outof the vertical, wherefore a prompt and effective openingof the gate is insured. .v

A very important feature of the invention will be understood .by reference to Fig. 5 of the drawings, wherein the gate has `been shown in its open position with its rear end lying in engagement with the crank-arm 11, the latter of course being disposed below the top of the gate. When the crank-arm 16 is swung in the direction of the arrow to close the `gate the pintle portion 12 of the upper movable hinge member pulls upon the ear or arm 7 and the rear end of the gatelies against the arm 11 as a fulcrum-support, whereby suiiicient leverage is obtained to positively swing the gate closed while its rear end is being brought back to its normal vertical position.

1 Having fully described the invention, what is claimed is- 1. rIhe combination with a gate-post and a swinging gate, of a stationary hinge member secured to` one side of the gate in front of the ,rear end thereof, and a swinging hinge memlber mounted upon the post and including a horizontal swinging arm provided with a pintle received by the hinge member of the gate, the rear end of the gate being capable of engaging the horizontal arm as a fulcrum-support in the open position of the gate.

2. The combination with a gate-post and a yswinging gate, of a stationary hinge member secured to one side of the gate in front of the rear end thereof and having a laterally-extending perforate ear disposed below the top ofthe gate, and a swinging hinge member mounted upon the post and provided with a substantially horizontal arm lapping the rear end of the gate below the top edge thereof and provided with an upright pintle received within the perforation of the hinge member upon the gate, there being a substantially horizontal crank-arm upon the free end of the pintle to swing against the gate and impart an initial opening movement thereto, the rear end of the gate being capable of engaging the first-mentioned arm of the swingingA hinge member as afulcrum-support in the open position of the gate.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aiiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL A. WHITSETT.

Witnesses: l

R. W. 'MoADAMs, W. J. IHITSETT. t 

